Written by Robyn Christenson
Professional photography by elysian
A lovely update on Scooby, whom we featured previously here.
The 21st of December 2022 will be three years of Scooby, aka Thando, being in our lives. Three years in a home, in a pack, which is a bit longer than she spent in a shelter with the loving people of Animal Welfare Society of SA in Philippi, who saved her and her family’s lives.
A few things have changed in that time. We sadly lost our two Labradors – Ben to old age and arthritis, and Luna, who injured herself again at age 11 (we thought it was the other cruciate, but it was also severe arthritis and the painful decision had to be made to put her to sleep).
As Ben was the alpha in our pack, that left a bit of an open gap, in which Scooby is finding her feet. She’s good with the pack and is sometimes stern. Her biggest new challenge was the Labrador puppy we welcomed in May, Maverick. She plays so nicely with him and, at seven months, he’s the same size (except heavier) than her, but he respects her completely.
She was very wary of cats when she first came to us but followed them with complete fascination. We thought she wanted to attack them, but she actually just protected them, particularly the kittens when they went near the pool.
She’s not a swimmer and doesn’t go in on her own. She knows how to swim and where the steps are, and we put her in when it’s very hot and all the dogs are swimming.
I recently took her to Leadville Dog Park with two others of the pack; this was a very new experience for her and she was friendly to the other dogs when there were a few around us, but when the day-care dogs came out, it was a bit too much for her. She just wanted to protect us, so I kept her close to me and she was fine with that. She had a great day out!
Even after a few years, I feel like we’re still getting to know her. She’s a special soul and a beloved part of our family.
